Question:
Intellectually I know that the need for validation is an ego trait, but it is very difficult for me to get past. I seem to have daily breakthroughs in my interpretation of the data all around me, yet when I try to share this fascination it’s lost on my peers. By peers, I mean my wife because to her the things I notice are simple just like breathing. It’s so new to me though I feel like a child whose just learned how to read. I’m fumbling through Doctor Seuss while she recites Shakespeare. I read three of your books and I feel the answer to my question is obvious but I need validation. Is there any affirmation or exercise that you know of that would help me through this phase?
Answer:
Needing validation of your spiritual experiences can sometimes be a ego need, but other times it can also be an essential part of one’s growth. If you seek validation in order to be right, or feel special, then it is not going to help you. But if you are looking for people you can talk to and books you can read for knowledge that will clarify and confirm the validity of your experience, then it can play an essential role in your development. Complete spiritual wisdom requires not only direct experience, but also intellectual understanding to make that experience stable and functional. Experience and understanding are both necessary. Once we comprehend our experiences, we establish the basis upon which we can then deepen that experience of consciousness further.
So don’t feel bad about looking for people and sources of knowledge that can help you understand your breakthroughs because the more you know, the more breakthroughs you can have.
Love,
Deepak
For more information go to deepakchopra.com
Reading and quoting what we have read reaps no benefits if we dont live what we read.
We can fill a cup from the healthiest of springs, but, if the cup we are filling has a hole in the bottom we will only get a few drops of nourishment. Building our Spiritual self and living in Spiritual principles give us a strong vessel to retain the most water. When the cup flows over others can begin to catch the over flow. When they come to taste that the water is clean and pure they will eventually dip their cup in the spring as well and everyone can share the wealth and health. We can not force them to want to drink, they must see in us what the water has done
The words and feeling I saw most expressed in the questioner was. "when I try to share this fascination"
"God created life to share of it's own Being" Maybe your not really looking for validation from another human being,, but rather seeking a deeper union and sharing in spiritual being- It is beautiful and all harmonious when you are sharing life with another individual who sees with the eyes of the Soul…When an individual is looking at you, knowing that you are the reflection of God, and your looking at them knowing they are the reflection of God…..then tell me, who needs validation, as the divine shared experience will reveal itself in an all harmonious fulfillment in being-
This sharing of divine being starts first, and is directly realized within your own inner relationship with God….
Once you are grounded firmly in the inner relationship with God, Then sharing the beauty and bounty of a life lived in God, whether it includes another individual or not won't matter- You will then come to understand what desireless desire really means, and as this understanding becomes full in you, then all that you desire will infinitely manifest itself in a beautiful shared experience-
We are all here to share in the delight of all that is reflected from the divine essence of being-
Thank you for sharing your divine being-
Love
Gyanama
I think it's vital to have a teacher to validate one's experiences to determine if one is on the right path. An example: After three years of standing post meditation, an hour a day, I felt a strange electrical pulsing on the bottoms of my feet. I looked it up in a qigong reference book and it indicated the cavities had opened, indicating I was opening my energy meridians. I called my teacher, a bit excited, and he said "Great. You're making progress. Now forget about it and keep practicing." He definitely kept me humble.
That's the importance of having a teacher. Books, DVDs, and seminars can help one understand. But one needs direct experience and the advice of a teacher who has been there.
Bob
One more thing: Regarding the cup with the hole in it. I also have direct experience in this area. I had a beer mug that was leaking copiously. I soon understood why I wasn't catching a buzz!
Dear Bob!
You are right! Like Old Khyyam who sang:
"Myself when young did eagerly frequent
Doctor and Saint, and heard great Argument
About it and about: but evermore
Came out by the same Door as in I went.
Dreaming when Dawn's Left Hand was in the Sky
I heard a Voice within the Tavern cry,
"Awake, my Little ones, and fill the Cup
Before Life's Liquor in its Cup be dry.
You know, my Friends, how long since in my House
For a new Marriage I did make Carouse:
Divorced old barren Reason from my Bed,
And took the Daughter of the Vine to Spouse.
The Grape that can with Logic absolute
The Two-and-Seventy jarring Sects confute:
The sovereign Alchemist that in a trice
Life's leaden metal into Gold transmute!"
Just drink the vine of Divine!and feel Bliss!
AMEN
With Love!
@run